Traction-rope railway



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

D. J. MILLER.

TRAGTION ROPE RAILWAY.

No. 325,004. 'Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

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(llo Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' D. J. MILLER.

TRAGTION ROPE RAILWAY.

No. 325,004. Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

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` UNTTe STATES PATENT @Finca DANIEL J. MILLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRACTlON-ROPE RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION orzning. part of Letters Patent No. 325,004, dated August25, 1885.

Application filed November 2, 1882. (No model.)

Z'o all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL J. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Rope Railways, of whichthe following is a specification.

In cable rail rays itis usual to pass the main or operating cable arounda sheave carried by and journaled upon what is known as a tension ear77for the purpose of keeping said cable taut. These cars generally consistof a truck supported on a suitable track or way, and carryingtlietension-sheave, around which the operating-cable of the road passes,said cable being held taut either by the weight of the car itself, whenresting upon an inclined track, or by weights suspended from asupplemental cable, which passes over suitable antifriction sheaves, andis attached at its other extremity to the tension-car. Vith thesedevices it is apparent that the tension is constant and at all timesequal, and this is not the rew snlt it is desired to accomplish, aswhere long ropes are used the motion is liable to be very unsteady,causing` considerable movement to the tension-ear.

The object of my present invention is toprovide a device whereby thestrain produced by the tension-car will be gradually reduced as theslack in the operating-cable is taken up and increased as said slack ispaid out. To this end the weight which is employed to produce thetension is connected with the tensionear through the medium of a systemof differential equaliZing-levers, means being provided for enabling themanipulation of the weights to vary the tension by a single individual,all of which will be hereinafter fully described with reference totheaccompanying drawings, in which i Figure l is a side elevation of thetensioncar, its track or way, the weight employed to produce thetension, and thedifferential equalizinglevers located in the line ofconnection between said weight and car. Fig. 2 is a side,

and Fig. 3 an end elevation, of a winding mechanism designed to regulatethe tension of the weight.

o represents the main or operating cable of a cable railway, which ispassed around a sheave, f, journaled in a truck, f1?, whose wheels restupon a track or way, j, all of which may be of any ordinaryconstruction.

w is the weight which produces the tension supplemental cable or cables,71 with the truck 'i of the tension-car. Vith this system of levers itwill be seen that the weight n: will exert its greatest strain when theparts occupy the positions shown by the dotted lines, which strain willgradually decrease as the parts assume the positions shown in full linesin Fig. l. I do not, however, desire to limit myself to a system ofequalizing-lcvers of any particular construction, as it is obvious thatthere are many by which the same result can be acoomplished.

e is a drum, which is ]'ournalcd in boxes secured to the frame of thetruck i, and has the extremity of the supplemental rope 71 eonnectedthereto, as shown. This drum is provided at one end with a pinion, c',which is engaged by a similar pinion, d', keyed to a shaft, o, which isalso journaled in boxes se cured to the frame of the truck 1i. Thisshaft has also keyed to it a ratchet, (l, which is engaged by a pawl, c,carried by a lever, c If, whose extremity is fulcrumed upon the sameshaft to which said ratchet is secured. The lower portion, n., of thislever is formed of metal, and formed with a socket for the reception ofthe end of a wooden or other staff, l), which may be of any desired ornecessary length.

g is a second pawl, pivoted to a iixed part of the frame, and engagingwith the ratchet d io prevent its retrograde movement.

rlhe pawl c is formed with two flat sides, c c, as represented by dottedlines iu Fig. 2, either of which may be engaged by a spring, s, forholding said pawl in or out of engagement, as may be desired. By thisarrangement the supplement-al cable h may be wound upon or unwouud fromthe drum e with ease by a single individual, and the weight accordinglyraised or lowered, thus producing a corresponding increase or decreasein the counterbalancing strain, as may be desired.

The supplemental cable h. and the winding mechanism just described, towhich it is secured, are all duplicated, as represented in Fig. 3, sothat should it become necessary to replace one of said cables or otherpart the mechanism would not be rendered inopi ritive, but might be usedwith the parts not disabled.

Having thus described my invcntionythe following is what I claim as newtherein and desire to scc-ure by Letters Patent:

l. In a cable railway, the combination, with the cable and thetension-car, of a weight and a system of differential leversincorporated in the line of connection between said car and weight, asexplained.

2. In a cable railway, the combination, with a cable and a tension-car,of a weight, a supplemental cable, and a system of differential leversfor connecting said weight and car, as explained.

3. The combination, with a tension-car, a weight, and a supplementalcable connecting said weight and car, of a winding-drum to which saidsupplemental cable is secured, as explained.

4. A tension-car and weight, in combination with a system ofdifferential levers and a supplemental cable connectingsaid car andweight, and a winding-drum to which said supplemental cable is attached,journaled to and carried by said car, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. A tension-car and a weight, in combination with a system ofdifferential levers and supplemental cable for connecting them, and atakeup or winding mechanism for regulating thelength of saidsupplemental cable and consequently the strain exerted by the weight.

6. In combination, a tension-car, a weight, a pair of cables supportingsaid weight, and a pair of winding-drums to which said cables aresecured, ]'ournaled to and carried by said car, as and for the purposesset forth.

7. In a cable railway, in combination, the tensioncar, the winding-drume, journaled thereon, the supplemental cable h, secured io said drum,lever Z, link p, beam hand weight w, all constructed and arranged tooperate substantially as set forth.

- D. J. MILLER. 'Vit messes:

O. LUNDQUisT,

N. A. ZEH.`

